Tuesday, March 31, 2009

After a night in a cramped theater watching the fly fishing film festival, we're going to go over some of the hot videos that have been entertaining TMT over the last few months...

First the film festival was good. Several videos from Tarpon & Permit to Trout and Steelhead. One sweet view on bass fishing, as well as a killer video look from RA Beattie on Marlin fishing from an inflatable boat...

yeah...thats what we said...

SO...

Boz sends me his latest on fly fishing MAINE...

Makes us wonder why were not there already...

Also...a little teaser from my guys at Felt Soul with their new film EASTERN RISES...

Monday, March 30, 2009

Little rain last week left many of the spawned out fish still in the rivers with little activity from the fresh ones. Friday night was a late swinging night with Justin. We ended up going till about 9PM with Justin landing one spawned out drop back swinging. I hooked one, but dropped it after a few minutes. Amazingly, the fish (even being spawned out), became so active in the tailouts after about 8:30. We threw to several rolls, but hooked no more. Afraid of the snagging, and with few hook-ups, we left hoping for rain on Saturday...

Amy was in for a visit, so the fishing was put on hold until she left Sunday...

With a little rain in the morning sunday, and some work activities, we weren't able to fish until about 6 when I grabbed Justin and we hit a new stretch of water. The little rain did prove fruitful, as we saw and hooked a few fresh fish. Justin had the chromer of the year thus far show him how crazy these fish can be...after getting owned, we figured her to be about 10lbs or so. Several other fresh fish were seen along side the drop backs...meaning a few fish did decide to run. We fished through a tremendous down pour that was definitely bringing the river up, and tomorrow (Tuesday), things should fish PERFECT. I have no doubt that a few fresh fish made the trip up to the dam today no problem.

Rumor has it that Schmidt may have a weekend trip up, which ought to be good considering the amount of rain in the forecast, and temps bringing the fresh fish up...

Friday, March 27, 2009

Captain O'Hagan: I swear to God I'm going to pistol whip the next guy who says, " Shenanigans."Mac: Hey Farva what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the goofy shit on the walls and the mozzarella sticks?Farva: You mean Shenanigans?Mac: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.Thorny: OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.[as they hand the Captain their pistols]

Monday, March 23, 2009

So Conklin "says" he's got some business out in Utah last week...I'm calling bulshit. When he sends me pictures of Brown Trout and gorgeous montain ranges that look like this, we can't help but feel bad about smog, dirty rivers, and overcast skies most of the year. Way to go you lucky bastard!

Managed fish swinging in local waters. Nothing huge or Chromed out, but given the clear low conditions, good considering the weeks thus far...

Saturday was a later fishing day...with alot of walking and exploring. I grabbed Justin @ the shop and we headed toward some newwer water for me. After skipping a few bedding fish, we ran into a few tailouts and runs holding some decent fish. None were chrome but fish were definitely active and wanting to eat, with rolls every few minutes...

Sunday was supposed to be the day. Warm, sunny...and fishing the Larger of our rivers (The Grand) seemed like an amazing idea. With clear conditions on the other rivers, it seemed like the right idea. 10" of visibility, 2 bad hook-ups, and 4 hours later...we headed further east to try and sight fish. After finding some ideal conditions, we ended up walking another 2 miles for only one fish...bewtween 3 of us.

So to summarize for the math genius in us all, we got one damn fish all day in what we thought would be ideal conditions. It was not a fun day considering the conditions, but we can't complain about the company. Justin was able to wiggle out of shop work, and TJ was able to get out here from Sandusky. Too bad....

Anyways...it's safe to say that winter fish are starting to become more active. We need a little warmer temps and higher water to get some fresh fish into the rivers before the "real" spring run starts...but we'll take the fish as they come. Provided the water and temps done get too high for too long...and we keep mild, the run should last for a good while here...

Monday, March 16, 2009

Well I compeletely forgot to mention it yesterday, but with Selection Sunday already under our belts, it's that time of year that every office manager hates...and we as employees learn to tune the procrastination and web surfing/score updating skills. Break out the Win/Loss colored highlighters, it's March Madness BABY!

We've been able to set up an online place where everyone can just create a name, sign in, and manage your brackets. We're going old school style the with this...the entire bracket must be filled in my Thursday @ 9AM.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

If you've gotten tired of typing www.themadtrouter.blogspot.com as I have in the last few months, I've made it a bit easier. Now www.themadtrouter.com works also. Looking to get a new site up and moving in the coming months, but for now we've got an easier address...

for those of us who have a hard time concentrating on the keyboard after a few brews...

Well the Spring is really trying to show herself here in Northeastern Ohio...

This was an Amy visit weekend (I’m typing this as I’m rehydrating)…

So Friday afternoon was full of angst. Weather was gorgeous, and Amy was in at 8…meaning that I had a few good hours to clean, and tidy up the house so I wasn’t in the dog house too badly with her…

Too bad the idea of slinging shad patterns to largemouth got in my head about lunch time. I shot a quick note to Conklin, and the time/place was set. With the rivers just above fishable levels, and only about an hour to fish, we were stuck with only one fishing option.

With little expectations, we started on opposite ends of the North shore, and within the first half hour, we’d managed to bag our first fish of the year. Amazing considering we hadn’t gotten our first last year until April. Friday the 13th wasn’t all that unlucky to us in search of linesiders…

Conklin ended up with 2 fish, and I the one, but man was it therapeutic to get the beginnings of bass thumb. Both of his were taken on slowly stripped buggers, while mine took a double bunny, olive and white. We called it in time for me to pick up the lovely wife…saw A LOT more fish though, as many spooked with false casts…

Evening on our glass-like pond

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon when I had to drop her off. I packed the waders and streamers, with the hopes of bagging a steelie this evening as well. Didn’t end up being as lucky as Friday (got about 45 minutes on the water), but I did see a shit ton of fish moving. This upcoming weekend will be the best of the year, with minimal precipitation mid week, and water levels/temps being conducive to our chrome friends. I ended up seeing 10 or so fish spook in m meandering along the banks, with about 5 of them being fresh. Game on boys and girls…bring on the WAR fishing!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

"His footage revealed Watson diving from a helicopter onto the back of a cruising marlin in the Pacific Ocean. Another camera underwater caught him wrestling the giant fish to the surface before finally letting it go."

"For those of you who are note familiar with this project, here is a brief summary. Also, please feel free to contact me with any questions (kmayland@tu.org)Project Summary:The developer is Roland Betts, Bush's best friend from their Yale days continuing on to when they were partners with the Texas Rangers. They remain very close. He is the owner of Chelsea Piers in NYC and is a very rare weekender to Canaan, CT. He proposed in 2002 to build an 18-hole world-class golf course on top of a ridgeline in Canaan on a 760 property and to put up 62 homes alongside the course. The property is surrounded by conserved land and a state park (Campbell Falls State Park). The project has come under intense scrutiny and media attention for several reasons (described below) and has been turned down once officially by the DEP once already. The New Yorker, the NYT, Fish & Stream, The NY Post, etc. have all written about it. The course would be ultra-exclusive - invites only to people who can afford the $250,000 or so initiation fee and similar annual fees in operating costs. Few locals would be able to use it and studies show there would be little or no economic benefit to the towns from construction of the course. The principal concerns are the following:Water WithdrawalsThe developer has chosen a site above 1200 feet, at the absolute top of a watershed. Therefore the only source of water available for the course is groundwater, and that can only be recharged by rain and snow. There are no big rivers feeding the aquifer up there, just a series of small brook trout streams and intermittent streams flowing off of it. The amount of water the developer is proposing to take is constantly in flux - he started with 300,000 gallons per day, and now, following a DEP rejection, has chosen to construct 2 irrigation ponds (with incredibly high evaporation rates) and only pump 150,000 gpd however all year around and not just during the irrigation season. We are concerned about the withdrawals for the temperature and flow impacts they will have on Ginger Creek and Hollow Brook which feed the Whiting River - all of of which are coldwater fisheries. Also, the pumping tests that the developer's team has conducted to determine the impact on streamflows from the groundwater pumping actually indicate a constant decline in the water table - basically an unsustainable situation for the watershed.HousingIn Connecticut, unlike in MA, for instance, developers can "segment" applications. Therefore when Betts realized there was opposition to the housing component, he buried it. He knows that he can come back and do the housing separately once he gets his permits and not necessarily have to go through state or federal review. Therefore the project is not getting the full environmental review it deserves. AG Blumenthal is furious that the DEP is not dealing with the housing issue up front in the water diversion application. Betts has acknowledged in the press that he still plans to build homes - he just will not acknowledge this to the regulators. It can only be assumed that 62 or more 4-bedroom macmansions with large swaths of pristine turf will use upwards of 1,000 gallons of water a day (for lawn watering alone). Combined, this is a tremendous amount of water that deservers DEP review - something it will not get now that Betts has not provided the agency with a complete application.Conservation PropertyThe land, in general, is one of the most highly treasured in the state for its conservation value. It is surrounded (literally) by conserved properties and is part of a contiguous 4-state tract of wildlife habitat that is federally recognized as the Highlands Region - valued for its brook trout populations. The streams are all Class A water quality, containing coldwater fish and ultimately feed a WTMW 3 (the Blackberry River).There are a lot of other issues with the property with respect to extensive alteration of wetlands (they have to move around 460,000 cubic tons of soil to construct the course) and destruction of open fields and bird habitat (Audubon is opposed to the project). There was a federally threatened bog turtle on the property spotted several years ago prompting an Endangered Species Act Review by Fish and Wildlife Service and then the Army Corps.There are about a dozen environmental groups opposing the project along with almost all the locals: (over a 1100 signatures on http://www.petitiononline.com/yalefarm/petition.html)."

"Old-growth spruce forest climbed snowy mountainsides clear to the horizon, and unnamed rivers and creeks spidered across the green tundra, never passing a bridge or a home. It looked a lot like those westerns they film in the Canadian Rockies to create the illusion of a wilderness that goes on forever. Except out here, it’s not an illusion."

Monday, March 9, 2009

Saturday was the only day to fish the weekend...and with mom coming in from CT on Friday...I got her in and settled, hit the sack, and was up by 6 to meet Conklin. We were river side by 7:30 (after a license epiphany), and he was tied in by 7:45. After that we went without for a few hours. After some moving around, we were surprised to spook some bedding fish…amazing for March…

Conklin was able to score a few more hook ups with a black bugger, but went without for landings…

Overall a gorgeous morning. We were both sweating with just base layers…again, amazing for March…

Water was low, but fairly cloudy. It was flowing on the lower end with only about 12” of visibility…Anyways, here’s the picture of the day. Water is definitely on the rise. We talked with one spey guy who managed 5 swinging and also, considering most of Conklin’s hook-ups were on buggers, it’s time to focus on the big uglies…

Sunday was bad. Rain started early Saturday evening. Mom and I had nothing to do but kill time…so why not scout…

We started towards PA with the notion of seeing state parks, and didn’t end until we were able to see a good old viewing trib to Erie…one we can’t fish, but merely admire nature in it’s finest…

Below were some pictures taken with rivers starting to reach flood stage…

Fish stacked in both back eddy's....left and right...

Steel rolls in muddy-as-shit water...

Lake with ice on it...

Things learned on trip...

Fish do push up in muddy water. I did see quite a few roll with fresh, chrome backs...making me even more antsy on the trip...

They don't retreat back to the lake...as some people along the Erie Tribs have mentioned in the past...

Big ass flies can mean fish...just look in the obvious high water places...something to consider when the only two days you have to fish are high and muddy...

Anyways, the upcoming weekend is AMY IN TOWN...so I can't promise first hand reports...however I'll gather up the info...and share what we can manage...

"The agency has scrapped a program it began five years ago in which it purchased hatchery trout from Tellico Fish Farm in North Carolina to make up for the 2001 closing of Pennsylvania's Big Spring hatchery. Tellico had charged the state an average of $1.15 per fish (last year it was $1.27) -- significantly less than the $2.14 it costs to raise a trout at a Fish and Boat Commission facility. When this year's Tellico bid came in at $3.38 per trout, the commission drew the line."READ ON ABOUT PA TROUT...

Well it's been Hit or Miss this week. Dodging the rain showers has been a challenge for this weekend warrior. While they have remained ice free, the temps are still low, and precipitation is still killing some action...

Nymphing has still been the ticket, and many of the fish have been taking egg patterns. There have been some nice winter stonefly hatches taking place, and they should continue for a little while here. Smaller bugs seem to work best, however with the cloudy conditions, it's been tough fishing them.

Pretty soon the swinging should begin...

Sorry for no pictures...wasn't able to make any trips this weekend, and next weekend is looking like a wash out as well...with warmer temps though...